Thirty volunteers have joined council staff to plant a new woodland at Woodhall Hills.
The helpers worked alongside rangers from Leeds Parks and Countryside Service to plant a hectare of land with close to 4000 native oak and beech trees.
The site joins several woodlands already planted in the Calverley & Farsley ward, including:
- Chatsworth Recreation Ground, Pudsey
- Farfield Recreation Ground, Farsley
- Land off Keldholme Close, Rodley
- Land off Cote Lane, Farsley, (behind Farfield Primary School)
They will be joined by more this season, including at Rodley Park and Brookfield Recreation ground in Calverley.
The site was planted as part of the council’s woodland creation initiative which will see 5.8 million trees planted in Leeds over the next 25 years.
This tree planting is essential to the councils work on tackling the climate emergency and its ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030 by helping to close the gap left by those areas that cannot yet reach zero carbon.
Each hectare of woodland planted will remove around 300 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it grows over the course of around 30 years.
The volunteers were joined by Councillor Peter Carlill (Lab, Calverley & Farsley). He said:
“It’s great to be involved in this important work in our local area, and to work with residents to create new woodlands we can all enjoy.
“This is the second new woodland area created in the ward this season, adding to the three planted last season, with more being planned for the future.
“Tackling the climate emergency is one of my key priorities and I’m proud to play my part in the work happening locally, but also to take a lead on much of the work we do as a City – ensuring Leeds has one of the most ambitious plans, but most importantly delivers on it.”
Just a self serving publicity shot for a Labour councillor.
A photo of the volunteers would have been far more interesting and recognize their hard work